Retarted design???

[sp0000nman]

Well, I will let you know what the dealership says they want to do.

The dealership said they have never had to replace that before and they are going to set up appt. and call me back. They said it will have to go to a different VW dealership that has a body shop. Hopefully they do not have my car too long.

--sp0000nman

 

[sp0000nman]

The dealership said they have never had to replace that before and they are going to set up appt. and call me back. They said it will have to go to a different VW dealership that has a body shop. Hopefully they do not have my car too long.

--sp0000nman

Well, they had it for 3 days which kind of sucked. I don't know what took so long. They had to rip it off, replace light and then re-glue it.

 

[Widebody MkVer]

not too bad considering, just watch for problems with the paint in the "affected area"

 

[bunnygirl]

So glad my rabbit has an easy access to change light bulb :], ANOTHER reason not to get a GTI... all these problems... amazing LOL..

 

[ttdriver]

this is fucking insane. the cost to replace my 3rd brakelight is nearly more than the cars current retail value.

..and they called lucas the prince of darkness? this is insane.

 

[3carmonte]

What to do now...

I see your out on the Island. Do yourself a favor and go here for a second opinion. This place has been a reputable service/dealership from back when I lived in NYC and didn't even own a VW! Also, they won't rip you off like a "cottage" LI dealership will tend to do. They are in Woodside. Easy for you to get to on the LIE. Do what you want but this is what I would do. Kabich?

 

[bon qui qui]

I see your out on the Island. Do yourself a favor and go here for a second opinion. This place has been a reputable service/dealership from back when I lived in NYC and didn't even own a VW! Also, they won't rip you off like a "cottage" LI dealership will tend to do. They are in Woodside. Easy for you to get to on the LIE. Do what you want but this is what I would do. Kabich?

Lol, this thread is literally over a decade old.

 

[clockwise33]

this is fucking insane. the cost to replace my 3rd brakelight is nearly more than the cars current retail value.

..and they called lucas the prince of darkness? this is insane.

There was a letter sent out years ago about an extended warranty on the MKV GTI CHMSL. Look into that before you pay someone to fix it.

 

[avenali312]

You can do it yourself without ripping off the spoiler. Just requires breaking the light cover.

http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=191542

 

[merkeyterkey]

There was a letter sent out years ago about an extended warranty on the MKV GTI CHMSL. Look into that before you pay someone to fix it.

10 year warranty

You can do it yourself without ripping off the spoiler. Just requires breaking the light cover.

http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=191542

This is definitely the way to go

 

[5aprilc]

When my 3rd light stopped working, I busted it out with a screw driver, then pulled it out of the spoiler. You can pull the wire out enough to hook up a new light, I ended up having to use double sided 3M tape to hold my new light in because I couldn't get the old rusted in screws out of the spoiler.

 

[ttdriver]

There was a letter sent out years ago about an extended warranty on the MKV GTI CHMSL. Look into that before you pay someone to fix it.

yes, thanks. ive already screen captured it. ( gotta love the interwebs ) and ive been plotting how i might convince vw to honor their tsb/warranty extension! also killed a six pack reading up on any/all searchable threads so ive seen the brit on U-rube that simply tore apart and smacked out the old one while standing in the rain and filmed it.. ( priceless ) so it CAN be done.

so with the warranty deal, my problem is, my car is outside the 10 years in service date ( their warranty limit on this ) and I DID have my local vw *buggerership* honor the cam follower/hpfp warranty extention and i got it just under the 10 year "wire", last year. i shouldve asked what other extensions were "open" but i was amazed that on a 10+ year old car i was having a cam/hpfp+follower replaced! all gratis and the bill came to 1600+!

so..they already try to hide behind their service desks when i roll into the shop as i was there last week trying to find a short cauing the aux fans to go on and stay on/off all night killing the battery!..

that they told me needed a NEW ECU! ( this shit never ends w this car.. ugh ) and i pulled a fuse and the fans miraculously stopped going on when they shouldnt.

back to this idiocy at hand with the 3rd light tho.....any advice on how to get them to honor a warranty on the 3rd light even though i'm about 6 months out of warranty on the extension!?

any advice is appreciated. thx

ADD: just saw all the other replies and i may end up just doing the smash and replace. taking the spoiler OFF is absurd beyond belief. its no wonder VAG has their dispoportionate number of issues and haters. as much fun as these cars are. sheesh. thx again all.

 

[BudgetPhoenix]

Lol, this thread is literally over a decade old.

lol these topics are a trip to read. Weird to see all the people talking about their brand new MKVs, a lot of them just out of high school, such excitement, so much optimism, people learning new things about the car. (negative and positive)Now they have all longed moved on, or died, got married, had kids, driving minivans now, purchased five cars since then.

 

[ttdriver]

it IS a trip to read let alone LEARN of these absurdly ridiculous rube goldberg design ( ahem ) features built into what might otherwise be a great car.

i've had probably 20+ cars since i was high in school ( whats that? ) but never have i had issues like this, regardless of the in service date/age of the car.

case in point i have a twin turbo porsche and can swap out the 3rd taillight ( and have ) in roughly ( or gently ) 5 minutes.

still.. f**K VAG lol. though your point is well taken.

 

[ZiRiS]

This is not an isolated case. I also had my 3rd brake light replaced when I had my '09 (before a Jeep rear-ended me.)
The stealership also had to pull & replace the entire spoiler because, apparently, there's a TSB on this somewhere, stating that certain LED's will start failing prematurely, and eventually all LED's will fail, leaving you with a completely failed 3rd brake light.
Fortunately, I was under CPO warranty at the time, so I had no out-of-pocket expense and they gave me a loaner while they fixed it because I could not go without my car due to my job at the time.
I agree, though, that there could have been a better way of designing this so that the consumer could replace this on their own without the need for painting, etc. But I still love the MKV GTI.